Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

There were no declarations of interest.

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

There were no declarations of party whipping.

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers.

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 8^th March 2023 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

There were no public questions.

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

·       Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·       Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings.

There were no petitions nor deputations.

To receive a presentation from the Transport and Local Major Projects Services at Gloucestershire County Council on key transport projects and initiatives in Gloucester and the wider Gloucestershire county.

Report to follow.

The Future of Gloucestershire

113.1  The Executive Director of Economy, Environment and Infrastructure for Gloucestershire County Council delivered a presentation on some of the upcoming transport transformation projects across Gloucestershire. He provided an overview of plans to deliver an all-movement junction at Junction 10 on the M5 motorway, including a new link road, improvements to the A4019 and plans to deliver a new ‘Cyber City’ with 10 – 15,000 new houses over the next 40 years. It was noted that delivery of this scheme would be funded externally through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF). He also provided an overview of planned improvements to the A40, A417, Arle Court and the Gloucester South West by-pass, as well as planned upgraded cycling and walking routes across the county. He referred to the Gloucestershire Cycle Spine, which aimed to provide safe areas to walk and cycle and noted that the project would ultimately help reduce carbon emissions and benefit public health.

113.2  The Executive Director of Economy, Environment, and Infrastructure outlined the ambition of Gloucestershire County Council to develop an Integrated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system covering the central Severn Vale area. He explained that a similar project had been undertaken in Luton which had dramatically shortened the travel time between towns in that area, and that if the MRT project in Gloucester was approved and funded, it would be supplemented with a local bus network to help cover rural communities.

113.3  The Executive Director of Economy, Environment, and Infrastructure also referred to railway improvements in Gloucestershire, noting that the County Council had lobbied to secure additional rail services and that there were now 3 trains from Cheltenham and Gloucester to London which would arrive in London before 9am. He advised Members that from May 2023, there would be additional Bristol to Gloucester services with a long-term goal of 4 trains per hour. It was noted that through these projects, Gloucestershire County Council aimed to provide viable alternative transport service options to car travel.

Transport in Gloucestershire – Strategic Context

113.4  The Transport Planning Team Manager for Gloucestershire County Council provided an overview of the Transport Policy Context, explaining that the role of her team was to design the Local Transport Plan for Gloucestershire. She advised Members that her team was also in the process of producing the Carbon Reduction Pathway and once complete, this Pathway would feed into other strategies.

113.5  The Transport Planning Team Manager confirmed that Gloucestershire County Council had committed to achieving net zero by 2045 and advised that in order to achieve this target, a dramatic reduction in emissions was needed. She noted that shorter trips have a disproportionate impact on emissions and that alternative travel through bus and rail had the highest potential to replace the most carbon emitting trips. The Transport Planning Team Manager provided an overview of potential interventions and the vision for Gloucestershire in 2030, which included measures such as better land use planning to reduce average car trip length, increased online activity, bringing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113.

Monday 27^th March 2022 at 6.30pm in Civic Suite, North Warehouse.

Monday 27^th March 2023.